Windows Blue: Microsoft’s plan to release a new version of Windows every year

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Way back in August, three months before the release of Windows 8, we learnt about the existence of a project at Microsoft codenamed Blue. At the time it wasn’t clear whether this was Windows 9, or some kind of interim update/service pack for Windows 8. Now, if unnamed sources are to be believed, Windows Blue is both of those things: a major update to Windows 8, and also the beginning of a major shift that will result in a major release of Windows every 12 months — just like Apple’s OS X.

This information stems from The Verge, which cites several anonymous sources who are “familiar with Microsoft’s plans.” According to these insiders, Blue will roll out mid-2013, and will be very cheap — or possibly even free, to ensure that “Windows Blue the next OS that everyone installs.” Exact details are still rather vague, but at the very least Blue will make “UI changes” to Windows 8. The sources also indicate that the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 SDKs will be merged or standardized, to further simplify the development of cross-platform apps.

Once Blue has been rolled out, the insider sources claim that the Windows Store will no longer accept apps that are designed specifically for Windows 8 — i.e. developers will be forced to create a single Metro app that works on both Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. Presumably the new SDK will ensure that this is a Good Thing, and not just an arduous hoop to jump through. The sources say that Windows 8 will keep its name for the foreseeable future, too — much in the same way that OS X hasn’t changed its name in 11 years.

WindOS X

The new Windows logo is blue — coincidence?!?!

Perhaps more important, though, is the shift to a 12-month release cadence. Historically, Microsoft has released a major version of Windows every few years, with the intervening periods populated with stability — and security-oriented service packs. Now it seems that Microsoft wants to move to an OS X-like system, where new and exciting features will be added on an annual basis. In turn, Microsoft will drop the price of these releases — probably to around $25, just like OS X.

In theory, quicker releases will allow Microsoft to better compete with Apple and Google, who have shown themselves to be a lot nimbler than Microsoft in recent years. With Microsoft’s current few-year release cycle, there’s always the risk that its OS will already be oudated or bested by the competition by the time it hits the market. By moving to an annual release cycle, Microsoft should be able to stay ahead of the curve, rather than constantly playing catch-up.

We should also pay heed to that tidbit about Windows 8 and WP8 SDKs being “standardized.” As you may already know, Windows Phone 8 shares the same “common core” as Windows 8 — the same kernel, the same network stack, the same low-level security features and so on. Here at ExtremeTech we’ve repeatedly speculated about the possibility of Windows Phone 8 being removed from the equation entirely, with Windows 8 running across every computer form factor, including the smartphone. Having a single desktop and mobile OS that receives major annual updates, and has access to one vast library of apps, could be a very strong strategy for finally cracking the mobile market.

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Marrach

Okay– now we’re into the final craze of the Never-ending Upgrade…

Compatibility issues will abound as everyone gets further techno-balkanized with driver issues depending on WHICH 6 month old version of Windows you have. This is maybe one reason why the Linux world remains so small in the general populace and in the corporate world. There’s too many freakin’ versions!!! And you know what? the freaking animal/earth names doesn’t help the confusion!

Maybe we have to start thinking about whether it’s more COST EFFECTIVE to have one IRONCLAD OS or a stuttered succession of plastic knock-offs of poorly thought-out wanna-be’s.

NicolaMantovani

What’s the correlation about the 100+ different Linux distros, and 1 Microsoft OS which will see continuous improvements and API expansions while maintaining retro compatibility?

Marrach

The Microsoft we knew when Bill Gates ran it is dead. As much as I hate Executives, a good Tech-Engineer Exec/CEO is the difference between an Apple Corp and Dewey Cheatum & Howe.

and you know this because…? the whole point to switch to a frequent updates model is to add new stuff (beginning with bridging W8 and WP8) without breaking what’s available (at least not too much)

rickcain2320

I just wished they would have more confidence with their service packs. There are a bazillion cumulative updates and they all overlap. Why not just have a broader regression testing plan and bring out service packs more often. A year between service packs is dismal.

libtarded

What is a service pack? But a collection of fix rollups and occasionally some new functionality (usually to support another product).
If you haven’t noticed, MS has been deploying fixes monthly (Security/Important, Stability/Optional). If you recall back in the good old days of NT and Service Pack 3,4, 5, 6, 6a– there wasn’t monthly updates.
You’re getting the same fixes, just a piece at a time. Service packs (if anything) today are simply 99% rollups of previously released fixes.

Bob C

I suspect the real reason is to develop a steady source of revenue that is greater than what Microsoft has today. BTW, regrding Marrach’s comment, Bill Gates was a conman IMO. He built a monopoly via coercion of “his partners”. Do what Microsoft tells you and you won’t get “punished”. Step out of line and either pay more or get dropped – either way, you will lose out to your competitors who toe the Microsoft line.

AwesomeDave

That’s business in the real world, bro.

Bob C

There is no correlation – You select a distro and tend to stay with it. If another distro comes out that is superior to the one you are using, you can move to it and still have your applications work. For example, you use MATE for your desktop environment. MATE will (or should) work on any distro. It is possible a change in the kernal (or other core modules) may cause need for change due to incompatibility, but this has also happened with Windows, The difference between distros is not the same as the differences between Microsoft and Apple,

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

I don’t know what you’re talking about. You do realize Linux runs a large chunk of the corporate world and the major stock exchanges, don’t you?

Many enterprise products have yearly update cycles, like PostgreSQL. If you have to wait 3 years for a new release, you end up making ugly hacks yourself to implement features you can’t wait for. Windows is merging with the phone, and a 3 year wait for a new phone OS would be suicide.

Oh, and I update my desktop OS every 8 months.Rather than being a problem, that means things like not needing to wait 3 years for an install disk that can see peripherals plugged into USB 3 ports like Win7 users have had to put up with.

dichromaticb3c

Linux is almost entirely relegated to servers and IT security functions in the majority of large corporations. Windows still holds the title for king of the workstation OS. The majority of end user’s still use Microsoft Windows. Sure you’re marketing and graphic design depts may use macs, but it’s a small fraction when compared to Windows devices (laptops and PCs)

As another poster noted, most large companies have contracts with Microsoft and won’t be jumping ship for their desktop OS anytime soon.

PhilipNicolcev

You’re missing the point of the two posters above you, though. The first claims that the reason linux fails to do well in the corporate market is because it has ‘too many versions’ to which the responder points out that it is widely used in that market (behind the scenes, granted). I doubt the reason for linux’s lackluster adoption rate has much to do with the sheer number of versions. There are other reasons people don’t or can’t switch.
For starters, the end users are too dumb to learn anything else and it’s not worth their time to try.

m0r1arty

Looks like Microsoft is moving away from an ‘Our product is best’ stance and leaning towards an annual tax for using their operating system and it’s various updates.

Could work, I doubt it will but it could for a brief while.

http://twitter.com/1972AJM Eric Wright

Many people will buy a new machine every few years, skipping one to three versions at a time.

Very few will pay to upgrade every 12 months.

That’s like paying for service packs… not gonna happen (much)….

NicolaMantovani

service packs are collections of bug fixes, which seems not to be the case for windows blue (well, not only)

rickcain2320

Microsoft on many occasions has done stealth feature installs with service packs, some welcomed, some not so welcomed. Admins like me don’t like when you sneak in stuff, we just want fixes.

libtarded

Sneak? The README is blocked on your computer?

Mricehouse

Lets see, Apple charges you every year to update and most of that is a new animal name disguised as a service pack you get free from Microsoft.

sfdf9sdf8

And that’s one of the reasons why they do not have a majority market share….

http://www.facebook.com/craig.jackson.3139 Craig Jackson

It’s all about the money Microsoft has caught on to The Apple Plan, nickle and dime you once a year, now Microsoft is into hardware, but not as over priced as Apple.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Phong/100001178973449 Jim Phong

It’s even more insane here.

With Microsoft forcing developers to code only for the new OS release every 6 months changing the SDK completely.

And they seriously expect any developer out there to consider coding anyting for the atrocious Windows8 Metro/ModernUI at all ?

Steve Ballmer must be fired. Windows8 is a disgrace and WindowsBlue it’s going to be even worse

NicolaMantovani

completely? are you on crack or something? microsoft couldn’t completely change the windows sdk in 6 months even if it wanted to, it simply impossible. get real man, your posts are insane.

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

Lots of us are. :) It’s an awesome API, in fact!

http://www.facebook.com/l.konami Konami Larry

you right …. tranditional interface’s much better that dis hell of a sci-fi metro

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

Please! There’s one reason Apple or anyone else doesn’t have a majority market share: the pre existing MONOPOLY. Vendor lock-in assures even paying users to use your product wouldn’t won you the market. Let’s not pretend the world doesn’t use Microsoft by default. Heck everywhere they didn’t have a monopoly – servers, supercomputers, stock exchanges, embedded, mobile – Linux has eaten their lunch.

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

That had everything to do wit the fact that only experts and administrators use servers, and the zero price.

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

Not really. These updates will contain a lot of new features, will be very cheap, you won’t have to pay for the usual multi-year updates, and you still get the monthly security updates (previously called service packs) for free. That’s very different from ‘paying for service packs.’ So stop FUDding.

Bob C

What if you skip a couple of updates that contain nothing of interest? Then one comes along, do you now have to spend $75 because the 2 updates you skipped are prereqs? If so, then MMicrosoft has a money making scheme by forcing one to update everytime. Instead of spending a few bucks every “x” years, you now find yourself spending hundreds of bucks to keep current.

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

Spend a small amount of money (measly $25) each year, or $75 every three years, what’s the difference? If you want to complain about something, complain that this probably forces admins to upgrade their workstations more often. As an app developer, I see that as a very good thing, since we are usually stuck with targeting hopelessly outdated APIs that make use considerably less productive (and we are really expensive!).

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

Spend a small amount of money (measly $25) each year, or $75 every three years, what’s the difference? If you want to complain about something, complain that this probably forces admins to upgrade their workstations more often. As an app developer, I see that as a very good thing, since we are usually stuck with targeting hopelessly outdated APIs that make use considerably less productive (and we are really expensive!).

Bob C

I used $25 as an example. I don’t know what the eventual pricing will be. I don’t necessarily agree with your comment about being stuck with hopelessly outdated APIs. If your code was originally written to the “outdated” API, it should still work for that API. Instead, you have to waste time and effort to rewrite code to support a new API, which may offer no benefit as compared to adding new useful features that make for better selling points. As a developer, I compartmentalized my code as it had to support multiple OSes. I (or my peers) wrote our own system independent code with I/F modules that provided our “SIC” a consistent I/F to any OS. There is no reason that can’t be applied to different releases of an OS where the OS APIs change (because we had to do that too).

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

I give as an example WPF 4.5, which has tons of really useful additions for virtualization and threading, but works only on Windows 7 forward. Being able to target that eliminates a lot of work.

Of course I don’t mean migrating existing code. That would usually be a waste of time. If I had a better idea that potential customers would likely have the new APIs in a short time, I could write code to nearly the latest API most of the time.

http://www.facebook.com/l.konami Konami Larry

good point … 25 buk’s cool for a year.

Anthony Tarantino

Microsoft, Apple, and Google could enforce automatic updates. iOS and Android update for free, so why should we have to pay for computer OS updates?

Joel Wilson

when windows 7 came out it was around 270 bucks it is still 130 bucks to buy, they are talking about windows 10 being 30 bucks when it comes, if the service packs are only 5 or 10 bucks once A year that is fine, for A genuine copy + you can also subscribe to software that might also be in the 500 range for 5 bucks when you need it.

Anamon

Aren’t we jumping the gun a little here? All of this discussion and speculation is still just based on a few rumours. I haven’t heard confirmation from Microsoft that they are going to charge for such upgrades. I think Microsoft hasn’t even confirmed or denied the entire yearly release cycle rumour. Microsoft is well aware of the fact that their relatively long-term support is a major factor for their OS success, particularly in business environments, and I doubt that they would jeopardise that lightly by adding new charges.

Anamon

Aren’t we jumping the gun a little here? All of this discussion and speculation is still just based on a few rumours. I haven’t heard confirmation from Microsoft that they are going to charge for such upgrades. I think Microsoft hasn’t even confirmed or denied the entire yearly release cycle rumour. Microsoft is well aware of the fact that their relatively long-term support is a major factor for their OS success, particularly in business environments, and I doubt that they would jeopardise that lightly by adding new charges.

sfdf9sdf8

And that’s one of the reasons why they do not have a majority market share….

Mark Choi

OSX versions are far more that service packs, which you’d know if you actually knew anything about OSX, which you don’t. So why are you wasting people’s time posting on matters you know NOTHING about?

Mricehouse

Sorry I hit a nerve fanboi, but there is not much added from 1 new version to another in OSX, just a few tweaks and fixes and some cosmetics. Now it’s getting to be some upgrades won’t work on older hardware so you have to buy a new machine. But what do I know.

Mark Choi

You didn’t hit a nerve. You’re just an idiot.

What do you know? Next to nothing it would seem. Just because you write something down online does not make it true, no matter what your delusions of grandeur tell you. Each OSX version contains hundreds of OS changes, both in the UI as well as at the kernel level.

Nor is it just “getting to be some upgrades don’t work on older hardware”. That has been going on since day one with OSX 10.0, which would not run on older PPC hardware. You’d know this too, if you knew anything abot OSX, but as we have already seen, and as has already been made perfectly clear, you don’t.
And seeing as the same thing is true with Windows, one wonders what, exactly, your point is.

Then again, you not only used the term “fanboy” but even went so far as to use the even more juvenile “fanboi” spelling, so you instantly fail.

Xplorer4x4

“You didn’t hit a nerve. You’re just an idiot.”
Spoken like some one that still does not back up statements with a single detail.

Mark Choi

First, If you need citations, why not just go to Apple? They have a detailed list of version changes. Surely that will not tax your mental aptitude that much, will it? Second, there is a little thing called burden of proof. This is not arbitrary, but rather is a specific set of rules governing logical reasoning. In this case, burden of proof rests on the one making the original positive claim.
Lastly, it is not my obligation to inform you. Your ignorance is your own responsibility.
Note the complete lack of sarcasm.

Alex Yan

Mark Choi is a fanboi

Mark Choi

That’s your argument? Really?!? First by using the term “fanboi”, you instantly lose the argument. Second, by using the lame pseudo leet spelling you instantly lose at life.
Lame.

Alex Yan

Pseudo leet? What are you talking about?

Mark Choi

First, the word is spelled “boy”. The agglomeration is spelled “fan boy”. Either way, it’s use in an argument signifies not only a monumental lack of maturity, it also is a clear sign that you’ve lost.
(See Godwin’s Law)
Choosing to spell it “boi” in a lame attempt to hang with the cool kids just exponentiates the lameness already evident in your decision to use the term in the first place.
Clear enough for you?

AwesomeDave

Hmmm… pretty sure Godwin’s Law only applies to bringing Nazis or Hitler into an argument… so I think you’re the one who loses. Also… try arguing your point instead of the other persons grammar or spelling.

Side note, using a thesaurus to make yourself sound more intelligent is transparent and everyone knows you’re doing it. Talk like a normal human being.

Mark Choi

Um, pretty sure I never claimed otherwise, What DID do was refer to it, as the principle behind it is applicable to a far wider extent.

That said, incorrectly using Godwin’s Law does not make one “lose”, so WTH are you talking about?

As to the rest of your B.S., first, The original “argument” was”Mark Choi is a fanboi” Therefore, arguing the specifics of that statement IS arguing the point. And discussing the juvenile spelling is equally germane, as the original argument was an empty ad hominem argument in the first place. So, you are basically saying that a person can make baseless insults, and if you take them on directly, there is something wrong with you.

As to your side note, I had no need for a thesaurus. That you appeared to need one to parse my comments is telling, as is your need to chastise me for arguing “other persons [sic] grammar and spelling, and then proceed to critique my word choice.
Here’s a side note to you. If you think my language is too erudite for you, take a remedial English class.

Alex Yan

Alright, let’s see what’s new with Mountain Lion:

iCloud: Wow, a cloud service. I could’ve installed one without paying for a new OS

Reminder apps: Wow, reminds me of things that I write down. Hmm, I could’ve installed one without paying for a new OS

iMessages: OMG Instant messaging? Pidgin does that without having to pay for a new OS

Notification center: Wow notifications for getting mail and messages. Great. If only I got mail every other minute.

Power Nap: Really? Updates my messages while the Mac is off? That’s like so high tech, gee I wonder how that works

Dictation: Wow, I can speak into the computer and it’ll type/do whatever I say? Great, if only speech recognition worked flawlessly

Sharing: So they’re making you install a new OS just so you have a menu with the option of sharing things to Facebook and Twitter?

Facebook Integration: Facebook status updates? You need to install a new OS for that?

Twitter: Great. Just great

AirPlay: That’s fantastic, now I just need to shell out a couple hundred more on an Apple TV

Game Center: Oh finally, they have games for Macs?

Gatekeeper: Safer to download apps? Since when did Macs have security holes? I thought they were the safest platform out there

Safari: Wow. Amazing. You need to install a new OS just to update Safari?

First, good job giving everyone an example of the definition of a straw man argument. Second, equally good job evincing the facts that a) you don’t know what you’re talking about, and b) you don’t know crap about OSX. What you missed (among other things) in your silly cut and paste job form the Apple site is that that page was NOT a list of things in Mountain Lion, it is a list of UI and other similar enhancement in OSX. As such, many of those items are not even new to Mountain Lion. Items such as GateKeeper, AirPlay, Safari, iCloud, and iMessages are simply OSX features that have been in OSX since previous versions.

Xplorer4x4

Mark, first off, sit back, and relax. It is just an Operating system, a product. Throwing insult after insult, does nothing to prove your point and show your emotional attachment to your dear Apple products.

Moving on, why not go to Apple? Because I am not the one trying to prove a point. Your right the burden of proof does not lie on you, but this is not a court of law, and I don’t give you “benefit of assumption” when you are a minority. Furthermore, if you want to look intelligent by using fancy words, refrain from using words like idiot. Not only does it make you look bad, it diminishes any credibility because it seems the only way you can get your point across is to flame people. Even if you are flamed first, be a bigger man.

Last, I could really care less what you have to say about Apple. I don’t use it. I am sure it does have some advantages over windows, and even linux perhaps. However, the same goes for linux and windows. They all have pros and cons.

Mark Choi

First, you are a bit of a hypocrite, as you post nonsense about it being “just an Operating system”. If it is so trivial, why did you feel the need to post?
Second, there were NO insults in the post to which you are responding, let alone “insult after insult”. Pointing out the logical fallacies, making it clear that it is a straw man argument, is NOT an insult. Nor does it show my “emotional attachment” to Apple products any more than my negative posts on Apple fora prove my hatred of Apple.

“Moving on, why not go to Apple? Because I am not the one trying to prove a point.”

Yes, actually, you are. If you are claiming that OSX versions are merely service packs, then you need to back that up with a detailed analysis of the features Apple claims are in each version, and how they do not justify categorizing as versions. Instead, you simply make empty claims.

“Your [sic] right the burden of proof does not lie on you, but this is not a court of law, and I don’t give you “benefit of assumption” when you are a minority.”

There is not “benefit of assumption”. Burden of proof lies with the one making the positing claim, You. It is immaterial where this claim occurs, be it in a court of law or online.

“Furthermore, if you want to look intelligent by using fancy words, refrain from using words like idiot. Not only does it make you look bad, it diminishes any credibility because it seems the only way you can get your point across is to flame people.”

Um, first, what words would those be? Nothing I said makes me look like an idiot, unlike your uninformed, misspelled rants. But how about you give specifics? The fact that you think ANYTHING I wrote is “fancy” is telling. Second, what does using “fancy words” have to do with flaming people? Get your points crossed much?

That all said, it is telling that you have yet to add a single useful point to the discussion, other than your meta level comments on discourse, like your some self-appointed internet guardian. Why is it you feel the need to police this thread?

AwesomeDave

If you aren’t willing to back up your own statements, why should I do the legwork? You’re the one here who seems to be taking things to the next level… You sound like a standard internet user: “hurr durr… someone said something i dont like… time to start the insults to make myself feel better about my own inadequacies and to defend the inferior product that i paid too much for!!11!1!”

TL:DR – If you refuse to back up your claims, expect to get called out.

Mark Choi

Jeeze, is it really necessary to explain burden of proof, here?!? The O.P is the one making the dispositive claim, therefore burden of proof is on them. Period. If a person claims that OSX releases are equivalent to service packs, they need to back up that claim. Good luck with that, because they can’t. It is not my job to refute them, it is their job to prove their claim.

But if you really need it explained to you (sad as that is) let’s make it clear. Part of the definition of a service pack is no (major) new features. Service packs take existing features and tweak them, to make the more efficient, less buggy, more secure. Each OSX release adds major new features: Notification Center, Mission Control, Exposé before that, Spotlight, GateKeeper, Core Graphics, location services, and on and on. Whether you think those features are worthwhile or not is not the issue. They are new features, do not exist in previous versions, and as such their addition, and the rather large number of them, make each new version of OSX NOT a service pack. This is clear to anyone who actually uses OSX, and apparently not so much to people who talk out their ass and pretend they know what they’re talking about.
Maybe if you used a computer for something other than a toy….

As to the rest of your utter nonsense, first, criticizing your argument, and pointing out that it is chock full of logical fallacies, is not “insulting” someone. Second, once I did start replying in kind, it was a response to insults made on the other side. So save your faux outrage for where it belongs.
If you are a complete imbecile, make no legitimate arguments, and YOU refuse to back up your claims, then expect to be called out on that.

Xplorer4x4

Mark, that was so informative. Now I totally understand that OsX upgrades are a major refresh and not just a service pack all because you said so with out a single detail.

Please note the sarcasm in this post..

http://www.mraresults.com/ Chris Bordeman

At $25, I’m sure many will, actually.

http://www.facebook.com/l.konami Konami Larry

it’s gonna be a bad market for all parties

http://twitter.com/aa7ya Stacey Hanrahan 

You don’t pay for “service packs” for Apple. You pay for full blown product releases. Going from OS X 10.7 to 10.7.1 costs you nothing, but going from 10.7 to 10.8 will. It will be no different than upgrading from XP to Vista or Win7 to 8.

http://www.facebook.com/markus.ptolmey Markus Ptolmey

Do you think Google doesn’t exact such tax from us? Think unwanted tracking, data gathering and advertising and you may change your mind. MS/Google etc. are corporations out to make money with ‘only required’ adherence to norms and laws, period.

m0r1arty

Google taxes corporations who wish to spy on us and gives us the benefits of this for free (Whilst allow us the means to not be tracked or advertised to). That’s the big difference. See the state of email on 31st March 2004 and then 30th of April that year to see what ‘positive’ changes Google brings.

I used to get frustrated about this kind of thinking, now I’m thinking ‘How can I exploit it?’ since it appears to be so commonplace.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Phong/100001178973449 Jim Phong

Windows NT is not OSX. And it doesn’t run on just a few hardware configurations of a single manufacturer.

Microsoft keeps trying to carbon-copy what Apple does BUT it does a very flawed nonsense copy of everything. Just like the childish unusable flawed Metro/ModernUI mess.

http://twitter.com/1972AJM Eric Wright

Can you back up any of your claims with real world proof?

Nice speculation…

Sheeple will buy what is offered, as they always have, and that you can see for yourself if you go into any big box retailer… how many Apple PC’s do they have in comparison to Windows/Linux PC’s (I say Linux because of Chromebooks mostly)?

Enough said.

Apple is not a leader. They are a drop in the bucket annually.

Their hardware is now woefully limited in updatability.. Just look at glued in batteries, lack of upgradable sockets or slots….

I don’t see Microsoft failing any time soon.

VirtualMark

“Sheeple” – i hate that phrase. Are you going to try to say that you’re not a sheep? That you think completely differently from everyone else on the planet? What operating system do you use? Did you write your own custom one, in a custom programming language, that runs on a custom cpu?

If the answer to any of the above is no, then you yourself are a sheep.

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Seriously flawed logic there.

VirtualMark

How so? Please put forward your argument, and give examples of original thoughts you’ve had in your life. Show me that you don’t follow a crowd in any way.

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

*rolling my eyes at your ignorance

sfdf9sdf8

Yet no real response Chris….

I myself have been using Windows for a long, long time, but it seems I’ll be switching to Mint or Ubuntu soon if this MS bullshit continues. I honestly don’t mind paying more for the OS, BUT only if it is better than the old one and each new version adds something to the table. Instead, they’re essentially going to be asking us to pay for service packs. OS X doesn’t change all that much from version to version and neither will MS’s attempt to horde money.

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Have fun – no loss. You’ll be back though. when you are, please come and say hello.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

I left in July 2010 for opensuse and KDE and haven’t looked back. In fact, it turned me from burned out on tech to being as excited and having as much fun as when I got my first Atari PC! Getting all the good features of Win8 2.25 years early, none of the Metro, and all for free didn’t hurt either. Thanks to open source I now have enterprise class data mining software on my own PC that blows away the outdated MS tools I had at the HQ of a billion-dollar company I used to work for. Forget free; I’d pay double to keep my python, PostgreSQL, R, Rapidminer, BIRT, Qt, etc. on an OS with updates every 8 months and more power and control and security than I’ve ever had before. Did you hear Ballmer’s latest criticism that Android is “uncontrolled”? He doesn’t get it. I’m proud to be using the last major uncontrolled OS left.

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

That’s great. I personally find it way to tedious.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

Timothy Arceri

Well if you do come over to Ubuntu or Mint I suggest you stop calling myself or any other developers who contribute to the project an Idiot.

Mike_Acker

find an old box and load it with Ubuntu or Mint . I’m using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

I have found FREE SOFTWARE in the Ubuntu Library for Office, Music, and Photography

Perhaps you two should just agree not to talk to each other. I’m all for a lively, energetic, argumentative commenting section on ET — but the school playground stuff should stop :P

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

How so, because you are stating that all consumers are “Sheeple”. It’s like saying you breathe air so, your just like the rest out there. “Airbreathers”

I loved my iPhone, and still think the iPad is fantastic for consumer use. Almost considered buying the kids a Mini but, we have enough iPhones and iPads in the house already. Never really like droids though. Have them, hacked them, left them once the new factor wore off. Just not that great, slow buggy and annoying to use. I just personally think that Windows Phone is so much better for a cross corporate and personal world and the Surface has the potential to be that in the tablet market as well. Surface isn’t perfect by any means but, it is a nice first showing.

I try and use almost every OS out there, phones, tablets and pc’s. I look forward to innovation and new and better ways to do things. (I actually had high hopes for BeOS – LOL) Each has it’s place. I just can’t stand all the blind hatred for something that has so damn much potential just because it’s MS who is doing it and not Apple or the Linux community. MS has done some amazing work on Windows 8. Skydrive integration is outstanding, the App store just breathes new life into the OS every day. I see no downside to unifying the PC, Tablet and phone market other than it might make a dent in Apple and Google’s bottom-line. I see a very good first step to a bold new future. Is it perfect, no but it is very good if given a chance.

VirtualMark

If you’d read my statement you’d see that i hate the word “sheeple”. My point is that no matter how hard we try to be different or unique, there’s always going to be several million people doing exactly the same thing as us. We all follow a crowd to a point, as we all have similar needs.

And it also assumes that we can’t think for ourselves – i’m a Windows user for a few of my own reasons. I make music and use a lot of programs that aren’t available on other OS’s, and i know Windows inside out after using it for many years. It’s a choice of convenience, nothing more.

People tend to throw around words like “sheeple” to make their own argument sound more intelligent. For me, it’s just an annoying phrase and i see through the elitist nonsense.

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Agreed

rickcain2320

Apple’s focus is away from PC’s because they know they’re the next Edsels. That’s why Apple has enough money to buy half of Africa. Only Microsoft is still desperately clinging to a desktop format for computing.

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

You use Windows by default like most other people. Unless you’re using Linux, BSD or Haiku you’re a sheep too. MS won’t disappear just like RIM, Nokia and AOL haven’t, but they’ll continue to fade away slowly. They’ve already lost servers, supercomputers, embedded, stock exchanges, phones and now tablets (reports day they’re cutting their Surface RT production in half). They lost at MP3 players too and choose not to be the first to market an e-reader. The only thing they have left is milking their monopoly, but the post PC era and its need for cross-platform, the cloud, Web apps, virtualization, cross platform environments like Java and python are all eroding that monopoly. Once people don’t NEED to run Windows anyone, you’ll see a great deal jump ship. Oh, many countries mandating data be saved in ISO standards will help break up the Office monopoly too. There’s a reason the “lost decade” of MS stock stagnation has occurred. MS simply doesn’t have anyone left who remembers how to actually compete or please customers. They used to laugh at the moribund bureaucracy IBM had become, and now that’s them.

VirtualMark

Totally agree, they really seem to have lost the plot lately.

Basil_Nolan

Just bashing Microsoft at every attempt with weak [and old] points, a full-fledged troll.
It’s a page of Apple’s playbook, all right. But Microsoft isn’t the only one following this course of action, but the last.
I’d suggest, quit that sour attitude before you drop the ball.

http://twitter.com/1972AJM Eric Wright

Microsoft’s greed has told them they can charge 1/3 of a traditional OS’s cost (which used to be released about every 4 years, except borked versions like ME and Vista) and actually make a little more money… Actually added up, it’s a LOT more money…

If we assume the usual release schedule for major OS incarnations is 4 years, and now it’s 12 months, then at 1/3 the cost for each incarnation on the short schedule is 33% more cash flow.

Consumers will feel they are paying less, and only those who skip a generation or two actually will be.

That said, there’s no reason Microsoft won’t shoot for 1/2 the traditional cost, but a new OS every year… netting them double the profits.

Meanwhile, Marrach may be right… I still have software that is not compatible with Windows 7, let alone Win8… I don’t see things getting any better for driver compatibility, or older software that is still useful and has no new version for working with a newer OS.

Things are looking bad for M$…

Lucky Steam will be working fine on Linux…

One who sticks with a major player, like Ubuntu, is likely to have no trouble with updates… Ubuntu has come a long way since Amorous Aardvark… LOL

Keeping it up to date is not a big chore anymore.

I am sure the same is true for the other big players out there in Linux land…

Look at Chromebooks…

They are sold in big box stores, online, and from what I have seen in the last month at a local store, they sell in competitive numbers against Windows machines.

(Not enough to take over yet, but considering their short history in the market, people will get used to seeing them more and more)

http://www.jeffkibuule.com Jeff Kibuule

A few things:
1) Apple has already done this, yet there was no outrage.
2) Steam on Linux != Steam games on Linux. See the state of games on Mac.
3) A Chromebook is basically a $250 web browser. I don’t see how that’s attractive to most people.

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

1) True, but MS doesn’t have the loyalty Apple has from its customers.

2) valve had ported their engine over to Linux and is actively encouraging Steam developers to make Linux versions. They’ve also filed some patents for what looks like a “SteamBox”. If valve feels Windows Store is cutting into their profits, guess what they’re going to make and guess which OS it’ll be running under the hood? :-) Heck Valve worked with Intel already to improve their video drivers for Linux! Do you think they’re doing all that for no good reason? Gabe Newell is convinced Win8 will be a disaster for Steam and his profits. If he pulls the trigger, there WILL be lots of games for Linux. Blizzard has joined him now in complaining about Win8.

3) Its attractive because from email to Facebook to YouTube to twitter to Farmville to google docs, most users live in the browser. Throw in an OS that’s always up to date and secure and it suits the PC as appliance crowd (without dumbing things down for the rest of us).

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

See where you said, “I still have software that is not compatible with Windows 7″ …this argument is precisely what this would more than likely resolve. major upgrades breaking stuff issue. Seems to work for everyone else, not sure why it would be so bad if MS goes this route as well. (Oh right, it’s the big bad Microsoft…They are evil and it’s cool to hate them.)

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

Its a lot cooler than cheering for the status quo or rooting for the bully. :-(

Are you old enough to know that MS doesn’t do things to fix compatibility issues but to extend vendor lock in and maintain the monopoly at all costs? You did read the NYT report that revealed that metro is on the desktop because Sinofsky argued that it would force users to learn metro and then they’d buy it on mobile devices because they wouldn’t want to learn a new GUI? He told Ballmer it was the only way for MS to win on tablets. Let me guess: you honestly believed MS thought metro on the desktop was a necessary GUI improvement? :-(

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

To each his own.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

Mricehouse

I run software on Windows 7 and 8 that works on XP, not sure why you have problems.
Chromebook, what a joke, what can you run on that? Not Photoshop or anything useful.

FistofSado

One of the easiest points to make against the web-only Chrome OS says that you can’t run Photoshop in a browser. Well, now you can, as Google aptly demonstrates with the latest Photoshop CS5 running inside a Chrome tab.

http://www.facebook.com/craig.jackson.3139 Craig Jackson

Post a link, I saw one article that said they demonstrated it, but with the memory limits on a chromebook, I doubt it would be very useful. Oh yeah, they demonstrated it but no screen shots or specs or any more info. I can run Photoshop with Wine in Linux but won’t.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

actually, anymore, the only thing that dictates what you can do on a ‘lightweight’ machine is your internet connection. the cloud rendered stuff has made significant progress. try high resolution gaming on “onlive”, its ‘almost’ playable.Its only time until you can do anything high powered over the net with remote server farms handling the muscle.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

that’s funny, I have software that i use on a daily basis that is 16-bit, industrial software that WONT run on anything post XP. Oh, and this software costs more than the total of every computer that you have ever owned. Its not the average user that is affected by these things, its the Professional users who use a computer (more specifically, certain software) for a living. a chromebook is a great thing… for those that need to play on facebook, post stupid extremetech comments, and maybe bust out some heavy duty gaming on solitatre or poppit. MS has been the slow and steady ‘tortoise’ for a very long time now and MANY companies have come to depend on this and thrown billions of dollars cumulatively into R&D of software that only runs on windows. a great many companies are just NOW starting to deploy windows 7 installations. do you think for a second they will benefit in any way from constant, half-assed releases of the ‘latest and greatest’?

Mricehouse

I have 3 high end computers all running everything Adobe also Auotocad among other high end software, keep your old school 16 bit low memory using software, “and this software costs more than the total of every computer that you have ever owned” As far as that comment goes, my first computer cost $3000.00 and that was 20+ computers ago and 20 years ago I probably have $50,000+ invested in computers. What 16bit industrial software are you running?

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

my low memory using 16 bit software is used on one piece of equipment (well actually we have 2 of them) that cost $15 MILLION dollars to install. it will cost over $4 Million EACH to upgrade to a newer control system and hence newer software. the software is Bushman Boss RTC from Intelligrated, and Concept (by schneider electric now). boss is actually UNIX based host, but the remote terminals only run under windows
$50k is a fair amount of money in computers sure. but there are many pieces of software out there that cost more. Ill give you a partial list of whats on my computer to emphasize my point. we still keep a XP loaded laptop around just to troubleshoot one system.

My old company (GE)
i had wind turbine troubleshooting software that was over $100k a license! one piece of software, one USB dongle, one serial code, one purpose, oh and it only ran on XP…

Mricehouse

Fair enough on the software, but I was talking home use, and you were pretty offensive with your “and this software costs more than the total of every computer that you have ever owned” So stick with XP but don’t try to degrade somebody and brag about the software you use at work. Windows 8 could probably run what you have if XP can run it, wait now that stuff is running on Unix so what is your point? Xp terminal works the same as windows 8, have you tried it?

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

But isn’t the moral not to continue using software until its legacy ++ and you’ve got vendor lock-in on steroids? And yes I have my own horror story of a refinery connecting an 8 inch floppy drive to a PC and needing to hunt down and pay a lot of money to the guy who wrote software for the control equipment they purchased 1000 years earlier because he literally may have been the last person alive who remembered the custom data layout on the diskettes!

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Sweetness – Hopefully they will install like a Service Pack. I’m interested in whether this will ease, complicate or have no effect on corporate upgrade policies. I have a feeling it will help ease some of the stricter ones over time.

Dustymack

This is going to hurt corporations both financially and technically. There is a reason why an OS rolls out every 5 to 8 years. First it lowers the cost of hardware mass upgrades, and second it allows time to fix security flaws with out having to pay for them. Also, you better hope that the peripherals you buy today work with the software a year from now. I have stuck with MS because it doesn’t do business like apple but now it looks like they will be one in the same. What is keeping me from buying an apple now besides the cost?There is a reason why the open environment has worked well on the PC for years! Please don’t kill that MS….

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

I doubt it will be that bad. You always have the option to not install. ideally though, it makes upgrades smoother and more readily accepted by corporation. Having corporate stuck in the stone ages just hurts us all. This holds us all back from progress. Software companies that can’t keep up can be dealt with with vm’s or thinapps. Its not as big an issue as it once was.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

so “Having corporate stuck in the stone ages just hurts us all”? how do you figure? do you have any idea what the majority of corporate users do/are? they are the ones who are typing documents, like spread sheets and reports and feeding data bases, then ones who use specific company pages and software, or professional software like AutoCad or Photoshop. do you think these corporate users are hurt by ‘being in the stone age’ where expensive proprietary software tailored to corporate needs has been developed and tested for ONE OS that in a corporate environment lasts 10+ years and all the security problems have been ironed out? Maybe you are right, maybe they would be far more benefited by the flashy new metro screen where ‘hey look, when i get an email, it shows the Facebook status of who its from!’….

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

How, because MS and other companies have to make sure everything is backwards compatible tooooo damn far back. That’s why they finally have to stop supporting older os’s officially. Hello. this is also why I mentioned VM and thinapp being able to address many of those issues. I thought I was very clear. Oh, I see you hate Metro so nothing else matters including logical thought.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

well since my logic is lacking, why dont you explain how ‘Having corporate stuck in the stone ages just hurts us all’ or how not upgrading to a new OS every year is being in the stone ages, or how it ‘holds
us all back from progress’. virtualization isnt the answer to every problem and will only work here and there. typically, what CAN be virtualized, already IS. Virtualization is used mostly for cost effectiveness, availability, redundancy, density, and efficiency. very rarely is it used for compatibility. The core of a business does not change rapidly, and will not support constant OS releases. frequent OS releases induce a logistical and financial hurdle that only a handful of companies will attempt. ever wonder why XP was around for so long and in fact, is STILL around in many businesses and large corporations? Its not because your grandmother doesnt want to change how she checks her email. Its because of the corporate user space takes time to change, and when they final get something that works, and works well, there is no reason to dump time and money into ‘keeping up’

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Exactly why I pondered the question. I have a feeling that it will eventually help smooth a lot of that away. smaller, quicker and less major changes are easier to digest.

Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

http://www.facebook.com/xxcorpxx Chris Woodward

Also, I beg to differ in what VM’s are used for. yes all those things but, many people use it like I do to VM an old XP PC running something like our old POS accounting packages until we move to something modern. Which, we are. Then I will use VDI for other things. its a very handy tool.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 920

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

When change = improvement, then yes, not updating is staying in the stone age. Lazy *** developers use this as an excuse which is why today many industries have major software that still needs XP and IE6 to run! Its even infecting languages like Python, where 4 years on many major libraries still have not ported over to python 3 from 2.x and this holds back python 3 adoption. These folks will never bother so long as python 2 is maintained. Even Joe Biden explained during the debate that unless we set a firm withdrawal date Afghanistan would never step up. Heck Windows couldn’t even work with a UTC clock until Win7 because of back compatibility with DOS! Excel even has an odd date issue where it treats a year as leap when it isn’t to maintain compatibility with an ancient version of Lotus 123!!

Enough with the whining about stability and get some tech-heads who can handle frequent updates and we can kill off some of this ancient compatibility holding us back.

luis3007

Then stay with Windows 7, it will be supported until 2020

luis3007

Then stay with Windows 7, it will be supported until 2020

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

Most companies WILL stay with windows 7 for many years to come. Long term support is more important to a business than flashy new features every few months when they will in no way benefit the company, the process, the product, or more importantly, the bottom line.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

so “Having corporate stuck in the stone ages just hurts us all”? how do you figure? do you have any idea what the majority of corporate users do/are? they are the ones who are typing documents, like spread sheets and reports and feeding data bases, then ones who use specific company pages and software, or professional software like AutoCad or Photoshop. do you think these corporate users are hurt by ‘being in the stone age’ where expensive proprietary software tailored to corporate needs has been developed and tested for ONE OS that in a corporate environment lasts 10+ years and all the security problems have been ironed out? Maybe you are right, maybe they would be far more benefited by the flashy new metro screen where ‘hey look, when i get an email, it shows the Facebook status of who its from!’….

hector

microsoft should fix the their problems first like the windows up date ………updates that they don’t get install…..

http://twitter.com/bluescrn Dave Reed

Wow, the threat of a ‘Closed Windows’ with no desktop and/or Windows Store ‘apps’ only did still seem distant. It’s now looking a whole lot closer :(

http://www.facebook.com/john.shepherd.77770 John Shepherd

People like Valve’s Gabe Newell tried to earn everyone. When Linux users complained secure boot was designed to lock us out, people just laughed at our mocked us. Now you’re seeing yourselves about to be locked in worse than OS X users. :-(

Unless you guys jump ship or fight now, you’re screwed. Blue will shove most developers to Metro, and that means MS control of what gets onto users’ PCs and how. Search for Dr. Corey Docterow’s talk “The Coming War On General Purpose Computing” on YouTube and you’ll understand what’s at stake.

Michael Garrett

I imagine the cost will be administered as a annual subscription fee just like the Xbox. Which will mean TWICE a year, $50 will randomly be removed from my bank account. I always forget about that until I see the charge and realize I’m paying this money to only play Bejeweled and Peggle :(

http://www.youtube.com/user/zenapplejones?feature=mhum Craig Jones

A Rolling Release like Arch Linux. Never have to re-install OS. Sounds good , wonders if they can pull it off.

rickcain2320

And if Microsoft goes bankrupt, does every MS operating system in the world stop working?

Timothy Arceri

They would still work but it wouldn’t be long before your computer was riddled with viruses. This will most likely be the case when Windows XP support is finally dropped in 2014

sfdf9sdf8

My god, you and people like you are stupid. Viruses don’t just pop into your system (unless it’s a REALLY smart virus)! If you stay on trusted sites and only DL from trusted sites, you will NOT get a virus. And the OS has nothing to do with virus protection really, the anti-virus handles that. So as long as one’s anti-virus is supported and updated (by the company that makes it, not the OS maker), you will be fine.
This means that come 2014, as long as one’s XP anti-virus is still updated regularly, you should not have any virus problems.

IDIOT.

Timothy Arceri

For your information smartarse I have a Degree in Computer Science and have been working as a software engineer for the past 7 years, part of that time in the Security Applications team for a large Government department.

No viruses dont just pop into your computer but if your browsing the internet on an unmaintained browser on an operating system that is unmaintained (i.e Windows XP in 2014) then your more than likely going to end up with a virus before to long. As for “trusted sites” what does that even mean? Any website can become compromised at some point, hell the even the digital certificates that are used to verify every website on the planet had been compromised at one point.

“And the OS has nothing to do with virus protection really, the anti-virus handles that.”
Now your making yourself look stupid, LOL, and you actually had the stones to call me and idiot. Flaws in the OS is what allows virus to actually work on your computer in the first place, in theory if there were no flaws in the OS there would be no need for Antivirus software. Hence my little genius why we install Security Patches when Windows Update prompts us that an Update is available. Your Antivirus might do a song and dance about detecting a virus on your computer but if you have already plugged the hole it was designed to exploit then its pretty much irrelevant.

“as long as one’s XP anti-virus is still updated regularly, you should not have any virus problems”

My god <- like that one. Do some research there is multiple instances of viruses directly targeting antivirus software in order to disable it. When your sitting on an open target as WinXP will be when support ends it will be impossible to stop this from happening. Antivirus software works as an action response system meaning the crackers exploit a flaw and the Antivisus vendors and Microsoft deploy a response to deal with it. Without Microsoft patching the flaws Antivirus is a sitting target. So don't delude yourself, my guess is your someone who has yet to upgrade XP and your sitting there telling yourself you will be fine.
Like it or not Windows XP is a ticking time bomb deal with it.

dichromaticb3c

LOL I was about to break down the various types of malware and differences, but you did an excellent job of schooling him.

Bob C

While I don’t disagree with a lot of what you say, the core of the OS does come into play. The problem with Windows is was built on a crappy core GIGO. I have over 50 years of experience with computers – I was working on them probably before you were a gleam in your daddies eye and certainly before “Computer Science” was “invented” by the universities. If you go back and look at the history of how DOS and Windows came about, you will understand. Mainframe OSes were originally developed to run in closed environments and also built on a sound base – even Unix (although the original intent was never thought to be in the same vain as IBM’s OSes, i.e., to mass market). I remember the early days of Unix when the only way in was to beat the Admin to the punch logging in a root. Of course TCP/IP added another dimension and a potential gateway into the system. BTW, I have searched and looked but have not found any mention of one hacking into an IBM mainframe running zOS or zVM. I could probably go on (write a book), but here is not the place.

http://www.facebook.com/damon.bailey.14 Damon Bailey

apparently, no one remembers the XP era “Blaster worm”. all you needed to ‘catch’ it was an active internet connection. [exert from Wikipedia:] “This allowed the worm to spread without users opening attachments simply
by spamming itself to large numbers of random IP addresses”

i remember loading a computer with XP, plugging in the LAN cable, and while i was busy looking up my antivirus information in my email (love the irony here?), i got the dreaded ‘system is shutting down in xx seconds’ that was the signature of that virus. I hadnt gone on the web, checked email, or even done windows updates yet. the computer was just sitting there, on the very first boot. so yes, viruses CAN just “pop” into your system. but it is extremely rare.

just a funny memory of a well designed worm, but like everyone says, a little common sense and a LOT of keeping up to date goes a long way..

http://profiles.google.com/rickgutleber Rick Gutleber

“And the OS has nothing to do with virus protection really, the anti-virus handles that.”

I have a Mr. Linux and his cousin Ms. OSX on the phone. They beg to differ.

sfdf9sdf8

My god, you and people like you are stupid. Viruses don’t just pop into your system (unless it’s a REALLY smart virus)! If you stay on trusted sites and only DL from trusted sites, you will NOT get a virus. And the OS has nothing to do with virus protection really, the anti-virus handles that. So as long as one’s anti-virus is supported and updated (by the company that makes it, not the OS maker), you will be fine.
This means that come 2014, as long as one’s XP anti-virus is still updated regularly, you should not have any virus problems.

IDIOT.

http://profiles.google.com/rickgutleber Rick Gutleber

You’re assuming they work (well) now.

http://society50.com wmac

By this article’s logic Firefox, Chrome and many other software producers copy Apple!

More rapid software cycles are the new trend in software engineering. Rapid software development methods (RAD) have been studied and tried in recent years. Older methods are phased out and more leaner and faster methods are being used.

RUP used to be a major software development process. It was later replaced by Extreme programming (XP), Agile and others. The new generation of these methods are now being tested and practiced (SCRUM, Lean, Kanban). Microsoft now uses and suggests SCRUM. There are more than a few scrum books available in 2012 (mostly around Visual studio).

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Phong/100001178973449 Jim Phong

That is just babbling. Tons of useless theoretical acronyms that can make you pass university exams because professors don’t have a clue about the real world BUT almost no one in the business really bothers with all that stuff.

Not even UML is really used, just a few parts of it only to give teams a clue about what they are doing.

If you seriously think that all the theories and schemes and rules are applied in the industry by software houses employees and freelance developers and such then you are delusional.

http://society50.com wmac

Good. Now If we use logic and knowledge on extremetech we will be attacked by a bunch of rude fanboys.

Good for extremetech!

FYI I have been in software industry for 25 years and teach in university. I have designed and managed the implementation of a few ERP projects, a core banking software (i.e. a multi-million dollar project), several websites each of which host 10s of millions of customers and users.

Have you been part of even a small software project?

That would possibly be my last comment on this website.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Phong/100001178973449 Jim Phong

And you are a secret agencies spy, and you have been to the Moon and Mars… and who knows what else, sure.

Linux Secret Service Agent

Great!
Steven Anthony “Steve” Ballmer is our best Linux agent!
I can see him again jumping around the world: Linux! Linux! Linux!

http://www.firefold.com/ Ricardo Barnhill

This article is really linking Windows with Apple i.e. Windows is simply following Apple. This seems to be true with how MS is going about this new product, regarding updates, but ironically it is Windows which is known for its constant updates after launch.

Curtis Schroeder

Cite an example of a large company (1000+ employees) that equips a majority of its workforce with Mac computers and upgrades the OS every year on every Mac (no, you cannot cite apple). I’ve worked for a large corporation; computer changes never happened quickly. Service Packs were scrutinized and tested before being officially blessed for installation. Legacy applications that still did the job carried on using an antiquated OS protected by layers of security. Yes, they eventually get replaced, but if they still work the priority is low. This is why IE6 hung around for so long.

Every new OS roll-out (e.g. Windows, Solaris, VxWorks) was a carefully planned and budgeted exercise, usually involving new computer hardware on 3 – 5 year refresh cycles. Yes, large companies are more accustomed to licensing software with annual maintenance fees and are probably already enrolled in a MS enterprise agreement. For small companies, paying for a new Windows OS update every year and budgeting for the required support surrounding that update will a be a new cost of business and unlikely to be welcomed by any manager.

I have worked and continue to work with many different operating systems; each have their advantages and disadvantages. In my opinion, if MS moves to this business model for Windows and/or Office, it may be the last push needed by large companies to take a serious look at the Linux desktop using “long term support” releases that guarantee 3 yrs. of support. Long term support is not just for servers. I’ve seen several large-scale software application projects (where development time is measured in years) that use Red Hat Enterprise (or CentOS) for this reason.

Apple sells a consumer OS. Microsoft has traditionally had a foot in both the consumer and business markets. The question is whether MS will abandon the business market in its effort to compete against Apple in the shifting consumer market? Alternatively, will MS unveil a plan to continue supporting the business market similar to Red Hat with its Fedora and Enterprise Linux distributions or looking back to its own history when Windows 95 and Windows NT served the consumer and business markets, respectively?

http://twitter.com/epol Jerry Kil

apple has no place in the cubicle :P

Jesse Gomez

I beg to differ. Everything runs smoother than a Windows machine.

Sources: IT Professional with Macbook running Windows 7, Ubuntu, and Windows 2003 simultaneously with VMWare Fusion.

http://profiles.google.com/hibbard.tyler Tyler Hibbard

Your source for how well Windows *machines* run is running Windows *software* on an Apple machine? Of course OSX is going to run better on a Macbook than a virtual environment of Windows, especially if you’re trying to run three additional OSes at once.

Mike_Acker

=”Apple sells a consumer OS. Microsoft has traditionally had a foot in
both the consumer and business markets. The question is whether MS will
abandon the business market in its effort to compete against Apple in
the shifting consumer market? Alternatively, will MS unveil a plan to
continue supporting the business market similar to Red Hat with its
Fedora and Enterprise Linux distributions or looking back to its own
history when Windows 95 and Windows NT served the consumer and business
markets, respectively?”

a Most Excellent post, Sir !!

It’s like waiting for “the other shoe to drop”. It’s my view that if MSFT is going to continue marketing to Business they will need to divide Windows into two products — just as your post alludes

the high-dollar question though hinges around security. all this “hacking”,– is unacceptable. is Linux a better alternative?

I’m writing this from a 12.04 LTS version of Linux/Ubuntu . it works very well . Clearly Linux is a growing alternative .

korzeniow

I don’t see the problem here.

Since those companies you mention already aren’t updating to the new Windows OSes that are on couple years release schedule. Then this won’t change when Microsoft switches to the yearly release schedule.

The companies won’t update and Microsoft will continue to support old OSes. Microsoft won’t lose big clients but can win over the individual clients.

I see it as a win-win situation.

Justin

You have to understand, that changes are going to be minimal year to year just extra features. If you actually analyzed what you read before you spewed out of your mouth you would understand. You make it sound like its going to be expensive. This isnt going to be a $200 OS, they ESTIMATE it could be 25. Now lets put that into perspective… If a company employees 1000 people at desk jobs, they are making at least $15 an hour. That’s at least $15000 an hour to pay their employees. What is $25000 a year to them? And that’s assuming Microsoft doesn’t cut them a deal, which obviously they would. Microsoft is not abandoning anything, nor will linux take over. They arent stupid, they get paid very well to make money, and they would never let go of the business end of things. As technology advances at a faster rate, updates must be more readily available.

Robert Flores

Copying the APPLE model is the wrong thing. APPLE gets away with that because it is not heaviliy used in businesses. They, especially large businesses, need long term stability in the OS. This strategy insures that corporations wil be even more motivated to stay away from Win8.

http://twitter.com/Sentenryu Thiago Lourenço

so, if your corporation is presented with a plan to upgrade automatically every 6 months it will say no? even knowing that each update will bring more stability and fix more vulnerabilities? please, tell me more how your corporation still uses windows 95.
even if they really do, every version of windows has been backwards compatible. even windows 8 runs windows 95 apps.
your corporation thinking that major updates each 12 months are a reason to stay away from windows 8 IS a reason for your corporation to stay away from market.

Laz Laz

This is wrong. Corporations HATE change. It’s expensive, timely and introduces huge risk. What if one of those changes breaks your core line of business applications, no matter how many tests you run before hand – there’s always that risk.

Corporations only really upgrade because they have to, because the OS is past it’s extended warranty/support period, and the risk of NOT upgrading outweighs the risk OF upgrading.

http://profile.yahoo.com/55PNWYDCTFNUM2VHUBYZ3EWINU swampwiz

But corporations are always telling its employees that change is good – especially those changes that make the employees more expendable.

Bob C

Yes, but you are assuming that the new goodies are ones desired by those same corporations. Plus they are also willing to spend more money to replace their other apps that no longer run on the new update.

Bob C

Surely you jest!!! While the majority of apps that run on XP, Vista and 7 will run on 8 (supposedly), there are many that don’t unless you buy their latest version. I have at least a dozen applications I use that ran on 95 and most ran on XP, but won’t run on Win. 7. For example, I use PSP 3 and it will not run on 7. I still have DOS applications that ran on XP and won’t on 7. I had to install DOSbox to get them to run and even that was not a straight forward process as I keep running into problems where I need to tweak the DOSbox environment. I am not about to spend hundreds of dollars to buy the latest versions (when and if they are available) when what I had been using worked and does what needs to be done. Most Corporations act the same way. Is there a cost advantage to upgrading – when the answer is no due to the costs of updating other applications or the upgrade itself offers nothing of significance, then they won'[t spend the money.

http://profiles.google.com/rickgutleber Rick Gutleber

You should break down and get a copy of Paint Shop Pro 7, if it’s possible to find it, or if you can deal with the UI revamp, PSP 9, which is the version I still use. I bought PSP 10 when after Corel acquired it and they made no improvements and ruined the previously excellent photo browser. I tried the demo of PSP 11 and gave up after a few minutes. It was completely wrecked. I haven’t heard much about more recent versions (they’re up to 15, er, “X5″), but I always thought 9 was an excellent and stable product.

Bob C

It is more than PSP. I have a number of applications that won’t run on Win. 7 and I am not about to shell out hundreds to “update” them all.

http://www.facebook.com/lynn.flassen Lynn Flassen

no one cares about you or the other 3 people that use a 7 year old version of Paint Shop Pro.

Bob C

Strange, it sounds like someone named “Lynn” just passed gas and we all no what body part that type of gas exits.

http://profiles.google.com/rickgutleber Rick Gutleber

You’ve obviously never worked at a large corporation. It usually takes a year or two minimum to roll out an operating system upgrade to every employee if you factor in the in-house testing, planning, training and development required to deploy and properly support a whole new version of Windows.

At the last company I worked at, I joined the pilot program to be one of the first employees to get a new laptop with Windows 7 in exchange for providing feedback on my experience (generally very positive except for Office (but that’s to be expected). That was around the beginning of 2011.

The best you can expect for a company of any size is a rollout like that about every 3 years, and you know what? That’s plenty good. If you think having the latest and greatest widgets makes a difference in the business world, you would be wrong.

If you really want a shock, check out the field of enterprise software which is still essentially mired in the 1980s (if that) in terms of design and usability.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4NZNW47MG5S2DMV3MFVNXBUOZM John

Rick we Started our Win7 Migration in mid 2010 and we are only at the Halfway point.Getting everyone to give up XP is like pulling teeth. Though some of the delay( 3 months) was to test WIn 8, which is a huge disaster. We have resumed the Migration to Win 7 and are hoping to finish it by 2013. We have 6000 user’s. at my employer.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=810714650 Joe Cogan

And the Microsoft Death Spiral accelerates…

PrincieD

What’s ridiculous is how Microsoft expects us developers to learn a new API every year whilst maintaining back compatibility in our software with older API incompatible versions of Windows so our user-base is fragmented across dozens of Windows variants (increasing development time by months/years for the different code bases needed). Direct2D already has 2 separate incompatible APIs for Windows 7 and Windows 8!?!! You try testing your software on every possible VM machine and you’ll know what a nightmare it already is. Microsoft wants to make money (fuelled by corporate greed) at the expense of the developers and remember, without developers the OS is useless.

RK12

Another example of Microsoft having Apple envy and proving how far they are willing to turn their backs on their loyal user base. Windows 8 is a disaster on a desktop and never should have been released… and now this. They expect business users to upgrade every year… not gonna happen. This may just be the tipping point where MS starts losing serious ground to Linux. Since Windows 8 has been released I have had more of my customers ask me if I plan to port my software to Linux or Mac than I have in the past 15 years combined.

http://www.facebook.com/lynn.flassen Lynn Flassen

here’s the best part: no one cares what you think

mtcoder

So MS speeds up releasing new features and major repairs faster and everyone gets into a defensive state. The reason isn’t cause MS wants to be like apple it’s cause MS is taking over the world and when you do that you have to make changes faster. What I mean is MS is pulling phone, desktop, laptop, netbook, tablet, xbox (aka your tv), servers, IIS, cloud, business solutions all under the windows 8 platform. This means things need to get updated faster cause each one of those pieces have different influences. Have you though that windows 8 release 2 wait didn’t they do this before oh yeah, Server 2008 and server 2008 r2 darn all those companies that stopped using windows and cried when they did that on the servers, wait no one cared. But perhaps windows 8 r2 will have the support for kinetic 2 so the OS that will basically be the core of xbox 720 can run the new hardware, along with the phone 8 R2 that will need an update / refresh for new hardware technology.
The problem with people worrying about large companies not making changes is cause on a 5 year OS upgrade there is so much that has changed that software has to be checked. With smaller upgrade time gaps, it becomes much easier to test, and verify that there aren’t any problems, which should be minimal cause the whole core OS isn’t changing, just added improvements / features.
Also stop being whimps and push your software vendors to progress or die off. If you have software that is core to the business and the company refuses to keep it currently, how long do you think you will be able to go before they go belly up, and you get stuck with software that is in efficient. Sure it will work and sure your staff knows how to use it, but the company down the road is doing the same thing with modern software and half the staff as your group, getting more done. It’s hard for businesses to understand this, but it’s key to being successful, and something IT’s are going starting to push, cause we are tired to running 12 year old servers that have horrible support.

http://www.facebook.com/alan.kitchen.5 Alan Kitchen

Nope. Sorry, but changing OS’s is a BIG deal. Particularly for businesses who invest tons of money into software and don’t want to see their expensive stuff stop working just because the OS got updated. You cannot swing a stick without finding a story where someone’s copy of Office or Maya or $expensiveprogram stopped working because it wasn’t compatible with the new OS. It gets even worse when you are talking about inplace updates rather than clean installs. And frankly, people have better things to do with their time than do clean installs of your OS, then install their old software over a period of days, just so they can have the latest OS which doesn’t work any better than the OS you just threw away.

We have things to do, at work and at home. We aren’t going to trash everything we have just because you want to ram a new OS down our throats every 12 months. And if you look carefully, you’ll find that the Mac faithful skip every other OS as well, for the same reasons — they don’t want to fix a computer which isn’t broken.

Ms blue/win8 hater

If ms was smart they would scrap that idea as well this whole tile thing every IT tech/ network or system admin says they will not roll that os out its garbage for the most part with apps bugging out the tile scheme not being thought out thoroughly enough to be used for both touchscreen style comps. Like tablet pcs and touchscreen laptops, theyshouls of make it so u can choo to use the tile theme or keep it win7 style. Win 7 has been the most stable os and some major corporations are only now just doing the windows rollout, ms should understand how much time has to go in to product testing not just for there needs but for upgrading as well no company wants to spend millions of Dollers upgraded all there hardware and software every 6-12 months .

Sure apple rolls out a os every year they have iPads/pods/phones but they don’t make as many things as ms does software wise which makes them the money the missout on making a new os every yeAr. If this blue project does happen I see a lot of companies spending the millions upgraded there software not to mak but Linux and training end users on the os just because it’s a more viable os in the corporate world then Mac aside from graphic design and things like that. Even tho apple is just a revised vson or Linux in the sense that almost half of the os x kernel comes from Linux/unix and it’s open source coding

http://profile.yahoo.com/55PNWYDCTFNUM2VHUBYZ3EWINU swampwiz

Finally, Microsoft has named its operating system with its most popular color (i.e., the BSOD …)

anthony

yes i think it will be a good.

Bob C

This could cost users more in a long run and be a permanent source of revenue for Microsoft. For example, say they charge $25/update. What if you skip a couple of updates that contain nothing of interest? Then one comes along, do you now have to spend $75 because the 2 updates you skipped are prereqs? If so, then Microsoft has a money making scheme by forcing one to update every,time. Instead of spending a few bucks every “x” years, you now find yourself spending hundreds of bucks to keep current.

I know the article indicates one update a year, but they may charge $100 for the update- $200 for 2 years – even if hey charged $50/update, still $200 after 4 years. Given the history of how long it takes between releases – XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, etc. Also, for example, what if the release only offers a better media player than what was in the initial release and the free version of VLC is better or as good, are you going to update or or use the free VLC?

It sounds like Microsoft may have bought into the Gillette concept. Sell the razor fairly cheap (even give it away at times) and sell a lot of blades.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FOC22ASOR22OMA5U2ACKXG3CCA ew

If Windows 8 is like OSX 10.1, it will have a lot of issues that will gradually be ironed out in future releases, while still being Windows 8.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_FOC22ASOR22OMA5U2ACKXG3CCA ew

We heard the same arguments when Win 7 was introduced, now it’s being touted as the OS that Microsoft should stay with. But businesses don’t have to upgrade if Win 7 or even XP meets their needs. They can use the downgrade option with new PCs, continue with the OS that suits them, or use virtualization.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=690205924 Ben Parry

Which is great until you need server or OS support directly from MS. Than you find out that there is none. On top of that what happens when Partner company X upgrades software and company B can’t read or network properly. Plus as stated this is to keep up with both the software develpoment as well the industry hardware upgrades. This could mean lack of driver upgrades for some hardware as it becomes a thing of the past to fast. not to mention Bugs, security, exploits. this may force you to upgrade as there will probably be no support or patches for that anymore.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=690205924 Ben Parry

Which is great until you need server or OS support directly from MS. Than you find out that there is none. On top of that what happens when Partner company X upgrades software and company B can’t read or network properly. Plus as stated this is to keep up with both the software develpoment as well the industry hardware upgrades. This could mean lack of driver upgrades for some hardware as it becomes a thing of the past to fast. not to mention Bugs, security, exploits. this may force you to upgrade as there will probably be no support or patches for that anymore.

Microsoft is chasing after the insatiable consumer market while alienating the business market which prioritizes stability, consistency, and efficiency. Corporately changing your workflow every 12 months is simply not sustainable. Maybe more businesses will be looking closer at Linux solutions if the Windows platform continues to spiral out of control.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1021900395 Ned Carter

So we can expect a huge steaming pile of crap every year now… with requisite fees. Awesome. Linux here I come.

http://www.facebook.com/TheHeartOfAsiaa Pratik Rawankar

it means its Dev preview or Consumer preview will be available in march 2013 ??

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QMVD3JV5ZSMOQLYUMTRAUTHOL4 J

learnt ????

http://twitter.com/joey89924 joey

had a better idea that potential customers would likely have the new APIs ,,2N2907A

Cyberspeak

Apple works both ends of the street with both Hardware and programming, so keeping a balance on both sides of the equation allows them to keep prices attractive to the user.
Microsoft…its all about money, ( innovation ? ) they look for new ways to take your money…that’s their innovation.

http://www.facebook.com/lynn.flassen Lynn Flassen

i’m sure Apple will try to patent 12 month operating system releases.

Anthony Tarantino

Microsoft, Apple, and Google could enforce automatic updates. That would solve the “fragmentation” issues many of you seem to be worried about.

Also, iOS and Android give users free updates, so why are we still paying for computer OS updates (Mac and Windows)?

http://www.facebook.com/l.konami Konami Larry

the traditional desktop mode of windows is much better than modernUI because you can be able to enjoy the view of ur wallpapers……. but i love the update plan , you pay $25 per year for update and $75 for three years,,,, that’s coool !

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100003718498098 Bruno Silva

For me it is clear that MS is lost. It is just as if had no clue of what to do! They desperately what the mobile market, they lost some precious time while Apple and Google worked really hard and now they launched Windows 8. I have Windows 8 but it isn’t any better than Windows 7 in my opinion. The Metro thing is okay as you get used to it as time goes by but I wouldn’t buy a tablet to use the Metro Interface. I find Android and IOS based tablet just better. Some will say that you cannot be productive with these tablets, but I beg to differ. The main problem to some might be the keyboard which can now be easily solved, now we can do a lot of things in the cloud. Google Docs is fantastic and can be very productive. MS will have to find a way to make more and more money and make people abandon their IOS and Android based tablet and switch to WIndows. Not an easy task at all.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1065929401 Earl Chambers

Just more problems for business and likely to cause companies to stick to windows 7 longer

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1065929401 Earl Chambers

comical since apple is going to tablet and abandoning their computers. pays to have insider access.

http://profiles.google.com/hibbard.tyler Tyler Hibbard

But what about the Desktop environment?! *sobs* I don’t want to lose the supreme control and ease-of-use that comes from having a keyboard, mouse, and several-feet-long displays!

cze

Good way to get paid for service packs that were free before… M$ works hard to make win7 the next XP which will be used for years to come…

Lyn Fr

I was stopped from reading your article further Mr. Anthony by your word choice: “Learnt” Do you actually think ‘learnt’ is a word? I can’t take you or your article seriously when you can’t write or speak your native language-Are you a product of the “No child left behind act? lends new horror about teaching only to the test. FYI. Sebastian ‘learnt’ is NOT a WORD in the English language. Not even in text-speak. 3rd grade they use ‘learnt’ as the WRONG choice for “learned”. Were you absent? Where is your editor? I worry for our future. Anyone can press a graphic symbol tile. Your challenge? Learn to speak English ‘well’-not ‘good’. Your younger readers will be all the better for it. -sign me concerned about the proof of the ‘dumbing’ <-[a 'colloquialism' allowed in quotes] down' of America. End of English lesson 101. Too bad I didn't get to read your article Sebastion. Time's up for free time reading :/

gencreeper

i can see that windows is going to end up being the same thing every year with a few pointless features and a cosmetic change noone cares about (hell windows has already been pretty much the same since vista) nice to hear m$ took a lesson in product development from Infinity Ward.

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